Chapter 32
felt Jacquelyn slip off into a fitful sleep. He could feel the pain consuming her body and it was driving him mad. More than that was the thought of what Logan had done to his love. Fane was going to rip Logan's fangs from his mouth and then make him swallow them for piercing Jacquelyn's precious flesh. They had just arrived in Ozark, Missouri and Fane was keeping tabs on Jacquelyn's dreams. It was then that he caught glimpses of her memory of Logan, his arm pressed against her mouth, his teeth sinking into her back. Fane let out a howl in the vehicle that had everybody covering their ears.
"Pull over!" Decebel shouted to Vasile.
Vasile looked in his rearview mirror and saw that Fane was on the verge of phasing. He pulled over, and just as the vehicle came to a stop Fane was out the door and phasing in mid-air. Decebel was out right behind him. One minute a man, the next a huge, dark grey wolf with white paws.
Jen's breath caught at the sight of Decebel in his wolf form. It was the first time she had ever seen him. He was magnificent. She grinned at his white paws. She had new material. The wolf had socks. That was too rich!
She and Sally gasped as Fane turned on Decebel and snapped his huge teeth at him. Decebel dodged out of the way just in time. The two wolves circled each other, snapping and lunging but neither making contact. Then there was a third wolf and when he stepped forward and howled the other two hit the ground, heads low and baring their necks. He snarled at them both and then suddenly there were three very naked men standing on the side of the road. Sally squeaked and turned away. Jen had to pry her eyes off of the beautiful muscles that were Decebel.
"Coast's clear," they heard Alina say. "They went into the woods."
"Well, that was invigorating." Jen grinned.
Sally rolled her eyes. "You would think seeing three naked men was invigorating."
"There were three? Cuz, sista, I only saw one." Jen closed her eyes and again saw Decebel's bare back. The wolf markings across his tan skin were breathtaking.
"Fane!" Vasile growled. "What has gotten into you? And Decebel, what the hell were you thinking engaging him while he was like that?"
Fane snarled. "You don't know what he's done to her, what he's going to do if I don’t get to her."
"What has he done?" Vasile asked gently.
"I won't disgrace my mate that way. She is mine." Fane turned to Decebel. "My apologies, Beta. I know you were just protecting the females."
"I can't imagine what you must be going through, Fane. No apology necessary," Decebel told him, averting his eyes out of respect.
"Father, I will speak to the Springfield Alpha. I want to know where that cabin is and I want to know now."
"Fane, we will find her," Vasile started but Fane cut him off.
"HE'S GOING TO BURN THE SKIN OFF HER BACK!"
Decebel growled low and Vasile snarled. After Alina had taken the three wolves clothes, Vasile had his phone out and was waiting on Tyler, the Springfield Alpha, to answer. He picked up on the third ring.
"Hello?"
"Tyler, it's Vasile. We need to know where that cabin is now." Vasile continued before the other wolf could interrupt. "He's planning on removing her mating marks. Do you want to be responsible for that?"
There was no response for several seconds. "Fine, here are the coordinates."
"Got it, let's go." He then phoned Sorin with the coordinates and designated a place to meet a couple of miles downwind from the cabin at midnight.
They all climbed back into the car and drove to find a motel in Ozark to make plans.
Vasile pulled into the parking lot of the nicest hotel they could find. It wasn't the Hilton, but they weren't planning on spending a lot of time there anyways so Vasile wasn't going to be picky. He and Alina went into the lobby to check into a room. Jen could smell the anger coming off of Fane. Wait, smell anger? What the, that isn't possible. Why would she even think that? She felt a large, warm hand on her shoulder and felt warm breath by her ear. "You okay?" Decebel asked her.
Jen turned her head slowly to look at Decebel. It was the first time she had spoken to him since the little scene on the side of the road. "Um, yeah, I'm good. Just mentally preparing for the whole black ops situation."
"Black ops?" Decebel said questioningly.
"She has this weird obsession with military lingo and missions. Just nod your head and move on," Sally told him dryly.
Decebel made an 'ahh' movement with his mouth and then grinned at Jen, who blushed and quickly turned away.
Vasile and Alina climbed back into the car and drove around to the side of the building where the room was. They all unloaded and headed to the designated room.
Vasile, Fane and Decebel spent an hour planning and getting the location of the cabin marked on a map. Once they had the details worked out Vasile addressed everyone.
"The ladies are going to wait in the car in the woods where you drop us off. We're going in our wolf forms and will meet up with Sorin, Skender and Boain. Sorin is calling Dillon and telling him to bring his first four and will meet us two miles from the cabin."
"How will you get Jacque back to us if you are in your wolf forms?" Sally asked.
"I'm hoping that Dr. Steele will be in her human form and she can help get Jacque back. Sorin, Skender, and myself will escort them while Fane finishes off Logan." Vasile looked at Decebel. "It is to be Fane who kills him, it is his right."
"Understood," Decebel responded.
Lilly sat with Alina at the small table. Neither woman spoke but sat in companionable silence as they each thought about the path their children would take tonight.
Finally at eleven thirty Vasile stood. "Let's go." That was all he said and everyone was up and out the door. They drove in silence to the location on the map that brought them closest to the cabin. The tension in the vehicle was palpable and Jen swore if you reached your hand out you would be able to feel it on your skin. After twenty minutes Vasile pulled the car off the road and down into the trees that were the edge of the forest. He pulled the vehicle in as far as he could to hide it from view. Vasile turned to look at his mate. "I will call to you as soon as we have her. You need to stay and protect them."
"As you say, Alpha," Alina responded. "You just make sure you bring my son and his mate back."
"As you say, my Luna." Vasile leaned across the seat and kissed her gently.
Fane waited outside the vehicle while his father spoke with his mother. His skin was itching to phase, his wolf desperate to get out and hunt. He couldn't believe how close he was to her, he could feel her.
"Luna, we are coming. Be ready." Fane could feel her but she didn't respond. Maybe she was still sleeping. He would let her be for a few minutes more, then he would push. He needed her to be alert once they attacked.
Jen got out of the car as Decebel did. "Hey, Dec." He turned around to look at her. "Take care of yourself, okay?"
Decebel's grin was slow, calculated. "It sounds like you care, Jennifer."
"Of course I care. Jacque needs all of you to protect her, so don't go get yourself killed. It could leave her vulnerable." She glared at him.
"That's the only reason you want me to be careful?" His voice was low, and velvet soft.
Jen had to shake her head to clear the fog. "No, there's another reason," she whispered back. She crooked her finger at him, beckoning him forward. He leaned down so she could whisper in his ear. "You remember Matty, don't you? That handsome nurse who helped me out? Well, you still don't know if he changed my name." Jen couldn't help the wicked grin that spread across her face.
"What do you mean if he changed your name?" Decebel growled and he could tell he wasn't going to like the answer.
Jen's response was to start singing 'Meet Virginia' as she climbed back in the vehicle. She heard Decebel's growl and shut and locked the door just as he lunged for her. She looked at him through the glass and winked.
"Jennifer Adams, what have you gone and done to that poor wolf now?" Sally whispered to her mischievous friend.
"Just gave him some extra incentive to come back alive."
Cynthia strained to hear any little noise she could but there was nothing. No footsteps, no coughing, laughing or breathing, and no heartbeat. Logan had left them alone. Well, he was dumber than he looked, she decided. She reached across and gently but firmly shook Jacque.
"Jacque, wake up, we're getting the heck out of dodge."
Jacque sat up groggily. "What?"
"Logan and his mini-me aren't here. I heard a vehicle leave a little bit ago and thought one of them had stayed behind, but there is no one here. We are getting out of here now."
"How?" Jacque asked.
Suddenly where Cynthia Steele once sat was a medium sized grey and white wolf. The wolf slipped its foot out of the cuff and then Cynthia changed back. Now there was a very naked Cynthia sitting in front of Jacque. "Sorry about the clothes, hazard of phasing."
"No big thing." Jacque tried to be as nonchalant as possible.
Jacque watched as Cynthia began to search the room, she presumed for something to pick the lock on the cuffs. When she couldn't find anything she came back over and examined the chair it was cuffed to.
"Okay, I'm going to try and break the frame," she told her. Jacque looked a little skeptical.
"Hey, werewolf remember?" Cynthia said, slightly offended.
"My bad," Jacque said, holding her hands up in surrender.
Cynthia grabbed the chair where the front legs met with the cross bar of the frame and pulled with everything she had. At first she didn't think it was going to work but then she felt the wood give and then crack! The frame snapped.
"Nice," Jacque said, impressed with Cynthia's strength.
She was able to slide the cuff straight off the broken end of the cross bar.
Jacque stood up and stretched, unable to believe she was free…sort of.
Cynthia grabbed her hand. "Come on, we have to get as far away as possible. Once they are back they will be able to track us so we need to run in circles and then try and find some water to hide our scent."
Jacque nodded her head. "Okay, doc. Let's do this."
Cynthia paused briefly. "Jacque, I truly am sorry."
Jacque held up a hand to stop her. "Save it, let's just get our butts out of here. We will deal with the rest later, okay?"
They held hands as they crept through the cabin as quietly as possible, looking around constantly to make sure the really were alone. As soon as they were sure, they made a bee line for the front door. Once again they crept out silently. Cynthia took in a deep breath, scenting the air.
"They're not here. Let's go." With that she pulled Jacque off the porch and out into the night. They ran hard and fast through the trees. Jacque didn't know how Cynthia could see but was glad that she could, because otherwise Jacque would have become intimately acquainted with one of these lovely trees they were breezing by. Jacque was trying hard to stay on her feet but Cynthia was making it very difficult. Just when they would get in a rhythm Cynthia would make a sharp turn, causing her to stumble a few steps before gaining her footing again. This went on for what seemed like hours but probably was no more than 30 minutes and then they finally found a creek. Cynthia didn't even hesitate as she ran straight for it.
Without pausing she pulled Jacque into the cold water. Jacque's breath caught as the chill seemed to seep into her bones. Cynthia never slowed. Suddenly Jacque doubled over as pain shot through her body.
"Jacque, are you alright?" Cynthia asked as she kept Jacque from taking a nose dive into the creek.
"I don't know. It's hard to breathe, the pain is so intense." Jacque tried desperately to drag air into her straining lungs. She felt Fane stir in her mind.
"Jacquelyn, I can feel you are in pain. Are you alright? We are in the woods on the way to the cabin."
Jacque couldn't hold back the sob of relief that came out. He was here. Fane was here and he would rescue her.
"We aren't at the cabin anymore. Logan and the other wolf left and we broke out," Jacque told him.
"Where are you? How far from the cabin are you?"
"Cynthia, Fane wants to know how far from the cabin we are," Jacque told the doctor.
Cynthia looked off in the direction they had just come from. "Probably about two miles east. Not far enough. Why?"
"They are here in the woods on their way to get us."
"Fane, she said we are about two miles east from the cabin. How far away are you?"
Just then they heard a loud angry howl in the direction of the cabin.
"They're back." Cynthia grabbed Jacque's hand and started to run again. "We have to get farther. Once in their wolf forms they will be able to run fast."
"Fane, Logan is back at the cabin. Where are you?" Jacque knew her voice sounded shaky even if it was in his mind.
"We're about a mile from the cabin. Tell Cynthia we have a car parked two miles west of the cabin."
Jacque was trying again to stay on her feet as they ran through the creek. The water level changed constantly and made it difficult to stay upright.
"Fane said they have a car parked two miles west of the cabin." At her words Cynthia changed direction and crawled out of the creek, dragging Jacque behind her. They paused briefly and Jacque watched as Cynthia stuck her nose in the air and took a deep breath, then cursed low. Jacque heard the rustling and crunch of leaves and knew why Cynthia was cursing. Logan had found them. Without thinking Jacque let go of Cynthia's and took off running. She heard Cynthia shout her name but Jacque didn't stop. She couldn't stop. All she could think was that there was no way she was going to be at Logan's mercy again. She would rather die than go through that again.
Cynthia watched as Jacque ran then turned back to where she could hear Logan running. She made a decision then. She had gotten Jacque into this and she would do anything she could to get her out of it. She phased into her wolf form and waited for Logan to come crashing through the woods. He stopped just at the edge of the creek and his wolf form was huge, much larger than Cynthia's. She snarled at him, showing her teeth. She remembered how he had manhandled Jacque, how he had forced himself on her, and that fueled her rage. She watched as Logan took a couple of steps back and then jumped. He cleared the creek with no problem and landed several feet from her.
They began to circle one another, looking for an opening. Cynthia knew she unmatched Logan in size but she was fast. If she could keep him distracted so Jacque could get to the car it might be enough. Logan took a step towards her and she growled and snapped her teeth at him. She lunged forward, knowing her boldness would take him by surprise. She was right. She went in low and latched onto one of his legs. Cynthia heard Logan yip and then felt his teeth latch onto her side. She thrashed her body, letting go of his leg and rolled to get out of his bite. She continued to roll until she was up on all fours again. Logan tried to lunge for her before she could right herself but she jumped to the side. He was so close she felt the air from his bite ruffle her fur. He turned quicker than she would have thought a wolf his size would be able to and grabbed her back right leg before she could move. She felt a snap and let out a loud whine. Logan released her leg and backed away. He was taunting her. He knew she could never defeat him. She let out a whimper as she tried to put weight on the broken appendage. Logan lifted his upper lip in a snarl and lunged again. Cynthia tried to jump out of the way but her weight shifted unevenly and Logan was able to grab her left back leg. She twisted and rolled, trying desperately to get out of the death grip he had on her. Again she felt a snap and the pain that raced up her leg to her spine. She realized now he didn't plan to kill her, he just wanted her immobile. She laid on the ground, her body heaving, her two broken legs lying useless. She began to drag herself forward with her front legs. Logan sunk his teeth into her neck and squeezed. He didn't break her neck but as the world around her got fuzzy, she realized he was cutting off her air, and then everything went black.
Jacque ran blindly, her arms thrown out in front of her, desperately trying to keep herself from running face first into a tree. She felt horrible for leaving Cynthia but the thought of Logan getting his hands on her was just too much. She stumbled over a fallen tree branch, falling forward but caught herself on her hands. She pushed herself up again and started forward without bothering to dust her hands off.
"Fane! Logan found us. I freaked out and took off running and left Cynthia behind. I don't know where I am." Jacque reached out for him, hoping that maybe he was close to her.
"We are tracking him. We just passed the cabin about a mile ago. Keep running, Jacquelyn. I will find you.”
Jacque nodded her head and then remembered he couldn't see her.
"Please hurry." Jacque heard a loud howl not far behind her. "He's getting closer."
Jacque kept running, but fell to the ground when the pain that was becoming more intense wracked her body. She rolled onto her side, biting the inside of her cheek to keep from screaming.
"Luna, what is it? I can feel your pain."
"The pain is getting worse. Whatever is happening to my body, it's getting worse." Jacque squeezed her eyes closed and tried to take slow, deep breaths. Pushing past the pain, she rolled onto her hands and knees and began to crawl. If crawling was all she could do at the moment then so be it but she wouldn't just lay there on the ground and wait for Logan to come rip her apart. Unfortunately, she didn't make it far before she heard a low growl behind her. She turned her head and sure enough a huge black and grey wolf stood there. His head was down low, all his hair on his large body seemed to be standing on end. Jacque turned, not wanting her back to him and fell onto her butt. She began to try to scoot back away from him as he began advancing on her.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked him, hoping maybe to distract him. "Why would you want me when you know I am not your true mate?"
Jacque squeaked when all of a sudden there was no longer a large wolf before her, but a naked man instead.
"Do you have any idea what it's like to be alone? To be empty on the inside and feel like you are being consumed by it? That is why I'm doing this. I need a mate. There are so few females and Fane is still a pup. He has plenty of time before the darkness begins to drive him mad. But me, I'm old. I need a mate."
Jacque kept her eyes firmly planted on his face as she listened to him. She could see the pain on his face but after what he had done to her she couldn't feel sorry for him.
"You have to already realize that I will not make the darkness go away for you. You have to know that only your true mate can do that," she tried to reason.
"It will be better once we mate. That will make us one and then the madness will be contained."
"Logan, it's not going to happen. I am not yours! I will never be yours."
Logan lunged at her, pushing her onto her back. He grabbed her hands and pushed them down into the ground as he leaned forward placing his nose against her neck. Jacque whimpered at his closeness, hating the feel of his skin against hers.
"You don't even smell like him anymore," he growled. "You smell like me. Do you really think he is going to want you once he smells another wolf all over you?"
Jacque looked Logan straight in the eyes. "Fane will always want me no matter what you do to me."
Logan snarled at her boldness but didn't back away. He took her hands and raised them above her head, holding both wrists with one of his hands. He took his free hand and grabbed her chin, holding her face in place as he leaned forward. Jacque realized he was going to try and kiss her and she began thrashing wildly. He held her tighter and she flinched at the pain in her wrists. He gripped her face tighter as his lips came brutally down on hers. She thrashed her body trying to throw Logan off but he was too big. Before he could pull his lips away, Jacque opened her mouth and bit down hard on them.
Logan snarled as her released her mouth. Glaring down at her, Jacque shivered at the feral look in his eyes.
"It's like that, is it?" He asked her as he pulled his hand back. Jacque realized he was going to hit her and tried to move her head out of the way. She squeezed her eyes closed, waiting for the blow. It never came. Instead, the weight that was Logan was suddenly gone as he was thrown from her body. Jacque opened her eyes to see Fane leaning over her.
"Fane?" she whispered his name as tears began to stream down her face.
"I'm here, love." Fane reached for her but stopped when she cried out in pain.
"It's getting worse," she ground out through clenched teeth.
"We're going to get you out of here just as soon as the others catch up." Fane was cut off when he felt teeth sink into his arm. He growled loudly and turned to face Logan. Fane lunged for Logan and phased in mid air.
"Fane!" Jacque yelled as she watched two large wolves clash in the air. Sounds of snarls, growls, and teeth snapping filled the air. Jacque pulled herself up so she could see the battle that raged before her. She gasped as she saw Logan grab onto Fane's side, but he must not have had a firm grip because Fane slipped away. She was so entranced with watching Fane and Logan that she didn't notice the five other wolves that slowly crept up to her. She startled when she felt a cold nose touch her arm. It was then that she noticed that Decebel was carrying Cynthia in her wolf form.
"Decebel, is she alive?"
"She is. She has two broken legs but I think those are her only injuries," Decebel told her, "Jacque, we are going to take you to the car that is waiting with your mom and friends. Can you walk?"
"I'm not leaving Fane," she said firmly.
The largest of the five wolves growled low at her. She looked at him and knew it had to be Vasile. The power flowing off him was unmistakable.
"I'm not leaving him, Vasile. You can growl and snarl all you waaa..." Jacque couldn't finish as she grabbed her stomach and tried to breathe through the pain.
Decebel looked at Vasile. "Let me help him finish this. It would be over quicker and we could get her out of here."
Vasile shook his big wolf head once and snarled. Jacque decided that must have been a no. They all snapped their heads back to the fight when there was a loud howl. Jacque couldn't believe the amount of blood that matted Fane's fur, it was everywhere. She covered her mouth to keep from screaming out. Surely that wasn't all his blood, she prayed it was not all his blood. She watched as Fane leapt forward and latched onto Logan briefly, then giving his head a quick jerk she saw him tear away fur and flesh as more blood poured out of Logan. As she continued to watch, wanting to turn away but not being able to wrench her eyes away, she realized that every time Fane lunged forward he would literally take another bite out of Logan. There were holes all over Logan's body and blood poured from him. He was weakening from blood loss and she watched him stumble. Fane took advantage of Logan's moment of weakness. He lunged, landing on Logan's back and sunk his teeth into his neck. She watched as Fane began to thrash his head back and forth like a puppy with a new chew toy and then heard a loud snap. Logan's body went limp in Fane's jaws. Jacque realized that Fane had broken the wolf's neck.
Fane dropped the lifeless form and threw his head back and howled. Jacque flinched as the other five wolves and even Decebel in his human form howled in victory with him. As the howls died down Jacque added her own howl, but hers was out of pain as once again she doubled over. Only this time the pain was too much. She held her breath and felt tears seep from her eyes just before she passed out.